Too Late Or Just In Time
by fiftyfuckedupshadesofemma
Summary: {au, post series, paul x oc} Before Ariana Swan (oc, non identical twin sister to Bella) left for Florida and eventually Las Vegas, her best friend Paul told her that he'd imprinted on her. Freaked out then, she fled.. Now that she's back, can broken imprints (and hearts) be fixed? And what about this situation she's gotten herself into? Is it too late for them both?
1. Back Home Again

She rolled her eyes as her father's modest white 2 story came into view and biting her lower lip she said quietly, "This is gonna go so fucking stellar." as she pulled her Mustang into the curb and parked it, dreading getting out, actually going inside and telling her father what she'd come home to tell him.

She'd basically failed at being an adult. She'd failed at finding love, finding happiness. She had nothing left now, she was done completely. Patrick made sure of that before he ran like hell.

As much as she hated her twin, Bella, she was just like her currently..

Only Bella, of course, got the white knight fairytale happy ending complete with bouncing baby girl. Ariana? Not so much. Ariana only got the warped fairytale gone awry. The man she'd thought she'd spend forever with only had to hear the words "I'm pregnant" and he was in the wind faster than a rocket taking off into space.

She was alone, bitter and pregnant currently. For the sake of her little boy (or girl) she'd made a decision that she hoped wouldn't wind up making her miserable in the long run, and now, here she sat, parked next to her father's house, looking up at it with dread and a little bit of anger.

The door to the house opened and she got out on shaky legs. She didn't think, she just ran. She felt her father's arms going around her, felt her twin hugging her from the other side as they both looked at her in concern.

"Is this a surprise visit or?" Bella asked her blonde twin as Ariana sighed and said quietly, "I'm thinking very seriously about moving back in.. Some things happened, okay? I'd really rather not talk about them but since sooner or later, they'll have to come out, might as well tell you guys now... I'm pregnant."

Charlie gaped at his daughter and Bella asked, "And Patrick didn't come with you why?" as she eyed the Mustang her sister had gotten out of moments before before turning her intent gaze back on her sister who shrugged and said " Because, Bella, not all guys are nice."

Edward blinked in surprise, in all the time he'd actually known Ariana, the last thing he'd ever think she'd call him was nice.. A thousand other names, of course, not nice. He knew that she hadn't approved of Bella's decision to marry him, or to let herself be turned.

She was still skittish about it if her thoughts currently were anything to go by. Renesmee ran past and Ariana looked at Bella and Edward then asked in shock, "That's my niece?"

"Yeah.. She's lively today." Bella said as she eyed her twin who was watching her daughter play on the lawns currently. "Then again, she might have sensed you were coming back?"

"That stuff isn't real, sis. I don't care how much you guys try and sell me on it, it's not real. You cannot form forcefields with your mind, Edward can't read thoughts and Alice cannot see the future. Look, you were doing good to get me to believe in vampires.. Granted, I had no real choice when Jacob got pissed and wolfed out in our fuckin back yard, but.." Ariana trailed off as Bella nodded and said solemnly, "Think what you want.. But can we continue this conversation inside? You look really, really tired."

"Probably because I just drove from Vegas to Forks?" Ariana guessed sarcastically as she walked into the house with her father and twin sister in tow, door shutting behind her. She sank down onto the couch and leaned back, rested her head against the back of the couch more than anything just thankful to be home, to be putting this failed foray into love behind her.

Frankly?

She was completely and totally one hundred and ninety nine point nine percent done with the male species.

"Don't say that." Edward blurted calmly as she glared at him and said "Back the fuck out of my brain, Cullen, understood? My thoughts are my own personal business. If you can actually read them that is."

He chuckled quietly, shook his head as Bella watched her twin intently and tried to figure out just what was wrong, why she'd come back to Forks.

The last time they'd spoken, she'd told Bella she wasn't planning on returning anytime soon. That she was doing this, moving away, for herself.. That she needed space from everyone and everything. Of course, Bella was her twin so Bella knew that when Ariana said she needed space it more or less meant she wanted to run from something.

And to date, Bella had yet to figure out what Ariana felt the burning urge to run from that she'd had to go all the way to Vegas to live to do so.

"So... What did happen with you and Patrick?" she finally asked her twin. Ariana shrugged and said with a bitter laugh, "Apparently telling him what I thought was happy news for us was the kiss of death for our realtionship."

Charlie watched his daughter silently, pondering just what had happened, exactly.. Because he got the feeling that Ariana wasn't telling him at least a good half of the story. She seemed like she was holding back a lot.

But for now, he'd just be glad she'd come home instead of staying on her own.

Bella bit her lower lip as she watched her twin intently. Ariana was squirmy at best.. It usually indicated that there was a lot more to the story than she was allowing to be told.. And Bella had gotten good at reading her twin when they were still babies.

Just because she wasn't human any longer, that didn't mean that particular skill vanished upon her turning.

If anything, it seemed enhanced, currently and Bella was concerned for her twin currently.

Because with Ariana's knack for finding trouble, she had no doubt in her mind that whatever Ariana wasn't telling was not good.. And it was probably not good that she was hiding it, either.

The long howl of a lone wolf close to the house had Bella and Edward exchanging glances and Ariana rubbing her arms as she muttered "Can they not do that shit this late at night?" jumpier than she'd normally be. For a split second she wondered if her friend Paul was one of the wolves on patrol tonight, but she shoved the errant and pesky thought out of her brain as she said quietly, "I'm okay, guys, really.. I see the way you're all looking at me.. I just wanted to come home. I missed everyone and let's face it.. Vegas is nice say if you're going to run away and get married.. Or you wanna gamble.. But it's not a place to raise a kid.. Especially on your own."

Bella and Edward nodded in agreement and Charlie said aloud, "Vegas is overrated. And I'm glad you came here. And you're welcome to stay here, with me, as long as you want to, Ariana, you know that."

Bella said thoughtfully, "Or there's the guest room at the cottage.. I mean if you want to crash there." as she looked at her twin. Ariana shook her head and laughing said "You guys just enjoy being happy.. Think I'm gonna stay here if it's all the same, keep our dad in line. Someone's gotta make sure he actually eats and washes clothes, right?"

"Haha.. So funny." Charlie grumbled as he smiled at Ariana and hugged her. He was worried about her but in the same, he felt better knowing that both his daughters were living close by, he could check on them any time he felt the urge to do so. And maybe, living here, Ariana would settle down finally and meet a decent guy or something..

Or she'd decide to remain single and start to seriously rebuild her life, start to settle down. She'd always been the wilder and more likely to get into minor trouble of the two.. Bella had been the problematic one in their later teen years of course, but Ariana had always had a wild and restless spirit about her that worried Charlie.

Maybe she'd grow out of that finally. She seemed to be heading in that direction.


	2. Broken I

She sat on the deck behind the house and thought about everything that lead her here to this exact point in her life. If she had to pinpoint when her problem began, she'd have to go back to the night her best guy friend, Paul Lahote, admitted he was a shapeshifter and then went on to tell her that thanks to some genetic quirk, she was forever linked to him, she was his imprint. As she went back over that particular thing in her mind, she bit her lip and briefly wondered what might have been if she hadn't ran off to live with her mother Renee and her stepfather, Phil, in Florida.

She'd only done it so he didn't feel obligated to love her. She didn't want him tied to her because his shifter genes declared it happen. She wanted him to actually want her. She wanted to know he loved her even without some stupid genetic thing telling him that he had to. She'd broken imprint back then but in some ways, if she had to guess, she'd never actually broken it. Patrick had been a lot like Paul, mostly his worst tendencies, but still, the fact remained... Even leaving and eventually going out to Vegas hadn't taken away the pull she felt to Paul.

She'd tried moving on, she'd tried simply ignoring it. Not once in all this time had it gone away.

And now, here she was, sitting on her father's deck at 2 am on a chilly night in her pajamas, crying over what she wished she'd had the courage to do differently back then, over what she'd done so wrong that lead her back here and in frustration because the thought hit her that maybe he'd forgotten her.. Maybe he'd even imprinted another girl.

That thought devastated her.

A long and lone howl came from the woods again and she perked her head up, scanned the trees just over the fence surrounding the back of her father's house as she sighed. If it was him, chances were that he was still so very furious with her for leaving him, for breaking imprint and probably his heart while she was at it, that he'd never step foot out of the woods.

And if it weren't him? It was another member of the pack and they probably all hated her for having broken imprint. Probably even more than they hated her twin sister Bella for what she'd chosen to become, the life she'd chosen with Edward.

And frankly, if they all hated her, if Paul hated her, she wouldn't blame him, not in the slightest. It was probably too late for them by now, and if it weren't, would she really have the guts to go for what she wanted now? And what about the current situation she was in? There weren't many guys who'd just step right into this whole ready made family crap.

And Paul, he'd always been the kind of guy who liked freedom to do whatever. Having a kid, being tied down.. Those were not things she thought of when she thought about Paul Lahote, the shifter that had stolen her heart and she'd tried to run from that fact like an idiot rather than be brave, take a risk, give this whole 'predestined' romance a chance.

Back then, she'd been jaded.. She just didn't see anything lasting that damn long.. And she was uncomfortable with being the center of some poor guy's universe, especially when you really thought about it and you realized that it meant that imprinting was loving someone you didn't choose, against your own will.. And Paul was so volatile temperwise..

The trees moved a little and she caught herself watching for him yet again for the fourth night in a row since she'd come back to Forks to live. If she saw him again now she wasn't entirely sure she could be held accountable for her actions, she realized now that she had loved him more than she'd thought. And setting him free, giving him the option to choose who he wanted to love, well..

It'd been the hardest thing she'd ever had to make herself do, other than tell her father she was about to be a single mother recently, of course.

She'd been back in town almost two weeks or so by now and she hadn't seen him yet but she was dying to see him. She knew now that her leaving had been the first stupid thing she'd done in a line of many stupid things since. And she wanted to at least get it all out on the table, tell him why she'd had to leave and why she'd told him to find someone else if he could.

"It's probably too damn late now, he probably moved on the second you were gone." she reminded herself as she stood and stretched, intending on walking into the house and going up to her room, going to sleep. Fate, apparently, had other plans in mind because just as her hand wrapped around the sliding patio door's handle and she was about to slide it open she caught sight of Paul's wolf form reflected in the glass of the sliding patio door that lead into her father's house.

He stood there watching her and she sighed, turned around to face him.

* * *

His animal instincts and sense of smell were what drew him to his former best friend's house in the middle of the night in his wolf form and as soon as he saw her it was like the darkness within him was gone, all there was was her. She sat perched on the railing of the Swan's deck, leaned back, looking up at the bright full moon, lost in thought, in her own little world.

A smirk curved his lips as he thought to himself, _'You finally came back.. I wonder what made you come back.'_ and stood in the safety of nearby bushes transfixed by the sight of her after all this time. She'd gotten prettier, he noted. Her green apple scent was stronger, it carried farther for some reason. She was almost glowing radiantly as the moonlight beamed down on her. He growled to himself in anger. He _**shouldn't**_ be here right now, he thought to himself as he tried to make himself leave the woods near the Swans house but..

He simply just couldn't walk away, not with her finally back in Forks, back where she really and truly belonged. He was drawn to her like a magnet. He hated it, he wished to hell he could stop it because he'd already been hurt before but.. It was a sad but true fact.

If he were a pussy or a romantic, Paul Lahote would almost be willing to say that she was the most devastatingly beautiful woman on the whole planet, but of course, he wasn't and she'd always been.

And he'd missed her so much while she'd been gone. It's hard when your imprint freaks out on you about what you can do and what you become, the permanence of the whole imprint bond, but it's even harder when you're like Paul and not good at dealing with emotional shit, not at all.. The past few years she'd been gone had been hell on earth for him, really. And his self control went out the window. It'd gotten so that the others really didn't go out of their way to be around him much but they silently understood what was going on and why he was acting out like he had been.

He'd thought that when she left Forks (the revelation that her best guy friend was a large dog and her sister chose to become some blood guzzling bimbo were a little more than she could take at the time, she'd said she had to go off, to find herself, to try and make a life..) he'd never see her again and that was her quiet way of breaking imprint. Now that she was back he was wondering if that were actually the case.

He'd seen her about to go inside so he'd stepped out of the bushes and when she froze in her tracks he stood there watching her, a solemn and sort of hurt and angry look in his eyes as he did so. She made no move to walk towards him and he wasn't making a move to walk towards her either. Not as much pain as her leaving caused him.

Because he'd tried doing what she said and breaking imprint. But he just couldn't let go for whatever reason. So he'd become a bitter angry bastard. And he'd given up all hope long ago of ever seeing her again.

And now, tonight, here she stood, in the backyard of her father's house, watching him intently as if she wanted to say or do something. He stood, eyes glued on her as he thought to himself, _'I wonder why her scent is stronger now..' _and wandered just a little closer before he could stop himself, the magnetic pull he still felt, even now, even with her trying to force him to break imprint back then.. Suffice to say, he wasn't thrilled about his damn animal urges currently because all they wanted to do were hold her in his arms, talk about everything that happened back then, fix things so that she knew she belonged to him, no one else.

Instead, he stood where he stopped, just short of being less than a foot away from her, staring at her with solemn and angry eyes. He howled again and ran back into the woods. And when he phased back to human form he tore everything in his path to pieces in anger.. At himself, at her leaving him, at his inability to just forget her and break imprint.. At letting her close enough to him in the first place to do this much harm.

"I've got other shit to do." he growled as he took off towards the reservation again. He'd sleep and think and then see what happened next.. Because she'd left him.. She'd told him to break imprint if he could... So the way the stubborn and quick tempered Quileute male figured, if SHE wanted him?

She'd have to fucking find him on her own free will.


	3. Broken II

She'd lain awake in bed all night, crying quietly to herself after seeing him like that. She could look into the eyes of his shifter form and she felt like the worst woman in the world, like she'd broken him somehow.. And all she'd been trying to do was give him the freedom to choose better for himself because she really did love him... She just didn't see how he could ever be satisfied with her, for the remainder of their lives. Now the sun was shining through the windows, a bleak sunrise, probably meant rain later in the day, but Ariana didn't care, suddenly. All she kept thinking about was just how truly fucked up she'd managed to make things.

Her door was pushed open, she heard her twin sister and her niece both hissing her name. She rolled over, shoved her head beneath a pillow and muttered "Go away, god damn it, Bella. It's too early. I just wanna lie here." as Bella yanked the pillow off of her head. Ariana scowled up at her and then said through gritted teeth, "What the fuckin hell? Did you not just hear me, woman? I'm not getting out of this bed, okay? I just... I want to lay here."

"That'd be fine, Ariana, if you hadn't been just laying here for almost the entire time that you've been back at Charlie's. I know being pregnant makes you tired but really?" Bella asked as Ariana gaped at her a moment and then pointed out with a momentary flare of anger, "Oh so it's okay if you do this crap.. But not me?"

"Big difference, Ariana.. Everyone knew why I was doing it. And I can admit now that it was stupid, me acting the way I did. But you don't need to just lay here. I mean it's not good for you.. Or the baby." Bella said quietly as Ariana waved her hand to shoo her and said something that Bella couldn't understand because of course, her head was shoved under the pillow. She paced a moment and then said simply, "Fine. Just don't lie here and torture yourself with what ifs, okay?"

"Is this Bella.. Giving a damn about other people?" Ariana asked stiffly as she immediately felt bad for what she'd said and added quickly, "Sorry, it's just.. We didn't get along that well before.. I'm just not sure how to deal with this whole new you, I guess?" as she bit her lower lip and looked at her sister a few moments.

Her twin had a very valid point, of course, but Ariana just wasn't about to admit that. And besides, for all she knew, it was too little and far too late now. Paul, being the notorious flirt he'd always been back then, was probably moved on from her. He'd probably imprinted someone else when she'd broken imprint. And if he hadn't, and he wasn't, he still probably hated her with a passion because she'd left, because she'd taken herself out of things so that he could choose who he wanted to love and not just be forced to love who his shifter gene picked out for him.

Even though it'd nearly killed her when she'd done it back then.

Bella lingered in the doorway of her old room a few moments and then said quietly, "He's still in La Push.. Just saying.. And according to Jacob, the last time I talked to him, Paul wasn't seeing anyone.. I don't know what you see in the jerk, really, but I just have this feeling that you should talk to him. The sooner, the better."

"Get outta here, Bella.. Go spend time with your man. I made a big enough mess of my life as is." Ariana pointed out as Bella shrugged and walked out of her room, shut the door behind her. Ariana was almost asleep again when she felt the bed dip low, heard her niece giggling as she said quietly, "I sleep too."

"G'head, Ness. We'll take a nap together. I don't care who tells you any differently, you will miss naptime one day." Ariana said as she snuggled her niece against her, fell asleep stroking the girls long dark hair. As she slept, she dreamed of what her life might have been like if she hadn't stepped out of the whole situation and given Paul the option to actually choose to want to love her.

What if she'd been selfish?

Outside, as she went in and out of sleep, the lone wolf howled from the woods behind her father's house as Paul stood there, watching the house, an angry glare in his eyes. The patio door slid open and he growled, backed up when Bella started towards him. She held up her hand and said calmly, "You can phase to human, Paul, I mean it's not like we haven't all figured it's you, you're the one who's been doing all the howling out here."

She turned and he phased back to human, grabbed his clothes from where he'd hidden them nearby and dressed then said stiffly, "What do you want, huh?"

"I came out here, Paul, to help you. Because I know my twin.. And I know that she's just gonna torture herself rather than do the thing she really wants to do.. The thing she came back to do, she just doesn't realize she did yet. I mean why else would she sit up and watch the window as if she were looking for something?" Bella mused while pacing back and forth.

"She shouldn't have left."

"No, she shouldn't have, Paul, but.. She was having a normal reaction to what you told her, okay? She's not like me, remember? And I kinda... I kinda think that maybe she left to begin with because she felt like you deserved better than her, which while totally untrue, because she's actually kind of amazing.. Anyway, she's just.. She's never really felt important?" Bella looked up at him and waited, biting her lower lip. Finally when she realized that he wasn't going to cave she grumbled and said "Fine. Be a stubborn ass, but she needs you.. And from what Jacob's been telling me, you need her too. You both just need to talk, okay?"

"Just go, leech lover. Leave it alone. If she really wanted me she'd have fuckin stayed."

"Have you actually tried thinking about it from her point of view? I mean it's a lot to take in, what you told her that night. And she's always been scared to death of anyone even attempting to talk to her in terms of anything future tense.." Bella asked as Paul looked at her and thought about what she said.. Not saying he liked the fucking leech bimbo or anything, but.. She did have valuable insight on her twin.. Insight that had he known back then, he might have known how not to freak her out when he told her.. He'd have known how to convince her that it wasn't just the imprint bond talking.

That he'd have chosen her anyway, regardless of how much they fought or how crazy she used to make him at times.

"I'm gonna go back in now.. Nessie's in her room and I don't want Nessie bugging her too much. She's just getting used to Edward and I and what we are too.. So trust me.. It's not a stretch to say that this time I might just be onto something. I don't like you, Paul, never have.. But I like you one hell of a lot better than the Patrick jerk she was seeing for a little bit."

Paul tensed, growling a little in jealousy. Then he thought about the girls he'd dated while she'd been gone.. But damn it, he'd tried to break the fucking imprint bond like she seemed to want him to, he just hadn't had the actual heart, deep down, to do it.

"What do you mean? He hurt her?" Paul asked, his temper sparking. Bella stepped back as she said quietly, "Now that I do not know.. All I do know is that he left her when he should've been with her, supported her. I don't think that's all he did to her, not by a long shot.. She just won't talk about it. And whatever happened, it's buried so deep in her mind even Edward can't hear it."

Paul paced, grumbling and swearing. "She's done with this bastard though, right?"

"She's here, isn't she?" Bella asked stiffly as Paul looked at her a few moments, not entirely sure why she was helping him now when they'd always kind of hated each other. Her next statement answered his unspoken question when she said solemnly, " The only time I could actually tolerate you, Paul, was when you were around her. And you might not realize it but she loved you a lot more than she let on. And with her, that's kinda rare. Nobody really gets that close to her."

"Because, Bella, she always used to worry about losing them to you." Paul snapped as he looked at Bella, then at the house. For a few moments he contemplated going in.. But then he'd think about her leaving all over again and he stubbornly refused to do it. What if she left again when things got too real?

He couldn't handle it a second time. He barely handled it the first time in all honesty.

"One of you is going to have to cave, sooner or later. Think about everything I told you, Paul. If you're not an idiot you'll figure it out." Bella said finally as she turned and walked back into the house. She watched him through the kitchen window and then sighed as she pulled out her cell phone and texted Jacob.. Maybe Jacob could talk sense into him and make him go to her first.

Because Bella got the distinct feeling that she'd accomplished nothing just now.


	4. Breathless

She turned the aisle in the grocery store and found herself chest to chest with him, purely by accident. She looked up at him and bit her lower lip intently. Words wouldn't come for her. She'd only thought he took her breath away back then.. That hadn't changed in the past few years, not even with her walking away, trying to make him break imprint because she'd been too afraid to just take what was given to her, afraid that one day he'd wish he hadn't imprinted on her.

No, if anything, now he totally took her breath away. And left her speechless.

"Paul.."

"Ariana." Paul said stiffly as he looked at her, licked his lips, eyes slowly roaming over her body as his entire body stiffened at the shock of seeing her again. He reached out, tucked a fallen strand of hair behind her ear before he could stop himself. "I see you went blonde." he mused after a few tense moments of just standing there, gaping at her like an ass basically. Every effect she had on him back then was multiplied by ten now. He couldn't even think straight and he was madder than hell at himself about it right now.

He didn't want to feel this magnets pull to her anymore. He didn't want to still love her despite everything. He didn't want to be the guy standing there, wanting her.

"Yeah.. I.. You've been working out more." she said, instantly kicking herself like an idiot. All this petty small talk. She wanted to tell him he'd won, she couldn't be without him, but the look in his eyes, the hurt and the anger there.. She felt her stomach churning as she realized it just might be too late for any of that. Sighing she said quietly, "Sorry, I.."

"It's fine." he muttered as he looked down at his sneakers then back at her, lost in thought.. Bella kept insisting that if one of them were going to make some kind of move it'd have to be him because Ariana was too afraid to do it herself. She'd even gotten Jacob to start in on him, riding his ass about fixing things. And now that she was standing here in front of him, he was kind of contemplating it. But he also didn't want to open himself up, her freak out and run again or something. Because if he understood Bella and Jacob correctly, that had basically been what happened before when she'd told him that he should just break imprint and find someone he wanted to love not someone his genes chose for him.

He wanted her.

She was his, damn it. He shouldn't have had to choose someone else. He was angry right now and truth be told, he was a little pissed at himself because he was sort of realizing that maybe he'd focused too much on how badly he wanted it to work out for them and not enough on her.. If he'd focused more on her feelings, he'd have noticed she was freaking out when he told her back then, maybe he could've stopped her from running.

Maybe, right now, they'd be in the grocery store, together.. He got caught up in picturing his life with her, replaying the things he'd seen about them when he'd imprinted on her back then and her throat clearing got his attention finally. He coughed and said quietly, "We're going to talk later. I'll be at Charlies around 8."

Then he walked away. If he'd stayed there longer he'd have made an ass of himself or lost his temper or something and she'd already gotten scared once, she'd already ran once. This time he was going to do whatever he had to to make sure she didn't get the chance to run before he got his side of things heard. Last time, she'd pretty much panicked and went into shutdown mode.

As he got into his truck he pulledust gotten back to her fathers when Bella's car pulled up in the driveway and she grumbled as she saw her twin getting out, walking up onto the porch.

"Doesn't she have other shit to do than to try and fix my life now? I mean she does have a husband and a kid." Ariana muttered to herself as she pulled open the front door and asked, "What's up?"

"Just came by to see how you were doing.." Bella said as she looked at her sister who seemed really jumpy currently. She asked quietly, "Did you see him?"

"Yeah I saw him.. And if I didn't think it w out his phone and texted Jacob to say basically that he was going to do what Jacob kept nagging at him to do. And he also warned Jacob that it better work this time. Then he drove to the gym and spent the time he worked out trying to figure out what was the best way to approach this this time around so that a repeat of last time didn't happen again. He knew now, thanks to her twin and Jacob, that she was skittish about love in general.. She didn't have a whole lot of faith in the concept, he'd known that when they were dating, actually.

He'd just have to prove her wrong, apparently.

* * *

Seeing him again at the grocery store hadn't helped Ariana feel any better about her decision back then. In fact, from the time he'd just basically commanded that they were going to talk and then walked away to the time she left the grocery store she'd damn near convinced herself that he hated her now and he was going to tell her that tonight. She'd jas too late then I know it now. He hates me, Bella. He's never going to actually understand why I did what I did back then when he told me what he was and that he'd imprinted on me. Why bother trying? He's still a stubborn ass, also. And apparently he hates my hair blonde."

"Well, it is weird, seeing you with blonde hair." Bella admitted as Ariana glared and then said quietly, "Told me he was coming over at 8 tonight.. Then he walked off. My guess is that he's coming over tonight to tell me off, tell me he hates me and if I want him back it's too late."

"So change his mind.. You do know, Ariana, you used to be a lot wilder than this.. You used to be a lot riskier.. Nothing bothered you then. Maybe you need to find that girl and bring her back." Bella mused as Ariana looked at her and said quietly, "That girl was just an act.. I had to do something to get attention."

"Touche."

"It's true."

"Still though, touche. Look, just don't give up.. You came back here to fight for him. Do it. Stop running and going into shutdown mode.. Sooner or later, Ariana, you're going to have to own up to your feelings about him. And you do need closure."

"Do not do that.."

"What?"

"Go Dr, Phil on me, you know it fucking annoys me, Bella."

"It only annoys you, Ariana, because it's true."


	5. Stood Up

She paced as she looked at the clock on her father's microwave and then peered out of the plaid drapes that hung in the breakfast nook just off their kitchen. He said eight, it was almost 8:30 and he wasn't here yet. He hadn't bothered calling either. She sighed and said quietly, "You're the one who abandoned him, dummy, if he's late that's his perogative."

She heard a car stopping by the curb of her father's house and ran to the window again, scowled when she realized it was only just her twin sister. "The fuck does she want now, seriously? Doesn't she have a husband to annoy?" Ariana muttered to herself as she opened the front door and Bella walked in. "Well then, just come right on inside." Ariana muttered as Bella asked, "Paul didn't come by?"

"Apparently, Bells, he's got much better things to do, okay? Maybe he was just saying that earlier and how the hell did you even know anyway? Do you and Jacob just gossip like two girls on the phone or something? Does Edward know you two talk so damn much?" Ariana asked stiffly as she looked at her sister and tapped her foot impatiently, arms crossed.

"Just so you know, Ariana.. Jacob may or may not have accidentally let it slip that you were... You know.."

"And now his not showing up makes all the sense in the world. At least I know where he stands, huh?" Ariana said as she fumed. She hadn't realized it until just now but she'd given herself a little hope.. Now that she knew Jacob might have told Paul about her being pregnant, about that being one of the bigger reasons that things were over with Patrick and herself... She felt sick, that hope was vanishing rapidly. She was realizing now just how right her twin was, even though she'd die before admitting it.

Deep down, when she'd come home, she'd come home for more than one reason.. She'd come back to Paul in a sense.. because she couldn't fight the damn pull anymore, she couldn't deny that while it was incredibly fucked up and it made her uneasy, the possibility that the imprint was the only reason he felt as strongly as he did about her then... She was tired of fighting the pull, tired of almost always crying herself to sleep because she'd been an idiot and ran from him.

Now she was in this situation and from the looks of it, Paul's knowing about it might have just lost him for her, for good.

"That doesn't have to be so.. You could bite back that stubborn pride and go to him."

"Why, Bella? I mean if he doesn't want to be part of this situation I'm in why drag him into it. It's not like it's his problem. I'm the one who ran. I'm the one who got mixed up with a guy I never really loved who treated me like shit and knocked me up then left. Not him. He never once tried to leave me. I coulda just accepted that he loved me even a little beforehand.. But nooooo.. I had to go creating all these imaginary god damn problems that didn't exist." Ariana raged quietly as she paced back and forth, bit her thumb in thought.

She kicked at a chair at the small dining table in their breakfast nook and hopped around swearing for a moment as Bella watched her twin sister and said quietly, "You really do love him. And he loved you.. Sometimes, Ariana, you have to take things for what they are. I came to see if you were okay.. And to try and talk you into going to him. For your own good."

Ariana looked at her sister and bit her lower lip, scowled. Since when did Bella Swan Cullen think about anyone but herself? And why did this matter so much to her to begin with? She raked her hand through her hair and paced a little, peeked out the window. Still no Paul. She frowned and shook her head and then said stiffly, "Just go home to your husband and your perfect happy little life, okay? I messed my life up, it is what it is. But you constantly butting in has to be causing shit with you and the dick with ears you call a husband."

"Actually, it doesn't. He agrees with me."

"Figures. Wasn't ever very bright, was he?" Ariana snapped as she looked at her sister and said quietly, "Sorry, it's just.. I didn't realize that I'd actually gotten my hopes up about his showing up tonight until now.. And it's kinda obvious that thanks to our favorite shapeshifter spilling the beans, he won't be showing up. And I deserve it, actually.. It's just.."

"You didn't know how badly you wanted to fix things until you saw him again, huh?" Bella asked quietly, Ariana nodding as she stared out the window, longing for his truck to pull up, to see him again.

But it wasn't happening.

"What happened to you being a fighter though.. I mean a few years ago, Ariana, you'd have stormed out, went to him, blown up at him about stuff.. what happened to that?"

"I have no fight left, Bella." Ariana said quietly as she continued to pace. She'd bought this, all of it, on herself. She was the sole person to blame for losing the only guy she'd ever actually loved, she'd thrown it all away when what he told her scared her and she reacted spontaneously. Now it looked like it just might be too damn late to fix things.

And maybe she didn't deserve the second chance she'd unknowingly come home to take.. Maybe she deserved the misery she was in right now. After all, she could've just been selfish and let what he told her be enough for her.. But no, she had to go and question the imprint bond.. She had to worry about thigns that might or might not happen in the not so distant future.. She had to worry that she wouldn't be enough for him one day and that what he'd done, imprinting on her, might just be the worst thing that could've happened to him.

Because she'd sort of always thought of herself as less than pretty much anyone else even if she never actually acted like it.

And now, she might not ever be able to explain why she left when Paul told her or anything. And that scared her more than she thought ti would.


	6. Confronted I

_'She's gonna have a kid soon. You don't even know if you fucking like kids.. And she abandoned you! You told her that you loved her, that you'd imprinted on her and she ran like hell. You have no reason to go over there, really. If she wants to talk to you, she'll find you. In the meantime, Lahote.. You need to do some serious thinking about things, about this situation.. About how you couldn't break imprint then and you still don't want to now. You can just get your head around all this.. Then you can go talk to her once you've thought it over.' _Paul thought to himself as he took his frustration out on a punching bag in the fitness center in La Push, where he'd been every since Jacob let it spill that Ariana was pregnant.. That the guy she'd tried moving on with had turned out to be a jerk and when she'd told the guy she was pregnant, the jerk left her.

And now, here she was, back in town.. Did that mean Paul was just a second choice? Or was there more to the situation? He wasn't sure and honestly, until he figured out how he felt about his imprint having a kid, having left here and gone off, met another guy.. He wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer either. Maybe he was better off just letting all this go.

He might, after all, make a shitty parent.. And he wasn't going to try and fix things with her then find out that he wasn't cut out to be a good dad and bail. He scowled as his continued his assault on the punching bag as Nickelback blasted from a stereo next to the open door. The music stopped and he stopped, turned around, fist raised as he prepared himself to deck whoever was in the gym to fuck with him. Right now he just wanted to be left alone, he needed to think, to decide things, to let out his frustration and upset over how she'd left things, what she'd done when she left town after he told her what she was to him and explained as best as he could that he loved her even before that.

Somehow, he sensed now that she hadn't gotten that point the night she left. That she'd been afraid and without thinking through what he told her, she made a heat of the moment decision and naturally, she ran like hell.. She got like that when things really and truly scared her. And they'd had a relationship full of ups and downs back then, everything that could've happened to them to make them fall apart literally had and they'd managed to face it all..

Everything but her begging him to break imprint and make the decision for himself, without his genes dictating the way his life would go and who he'd love. They'd been apart for too damn long now, but now it looked like they weren't getting back together.. And all because Paul was freaking out now.. If he loved her he'd have to love everything that came with her.

He did but... He didn't wanna mess up the kids life either. And he wasn't sure how he felt about her being pregnant, he wasn't sure if he could actually deal with that.

Kind of why he'd chosen not to go to her father's house and confront her this afternoon, finally have that one big fight. Maybe fix things by finally getting them all out in the open. Or make things worse. Either way, if he weren't such a chicken shit about some things, he'd have closure finally.

Instead, here he was, beating the living shit out of a punching bag in the gym in La Push at almost ten at night.

He glared and called out "Fuckin hilarious.. If you wanna keep your jaw unbroken, whoever you are, turn the god damn music back on.. Now.. And get the fuck out of here. I'm busy." in an angry tone.

The light overhead came on and Ariana stepped out, hand on her hip as she bit her lower lip. "Figured I'd find you here. I thought you were coming by.. When you didn't, my sister did.. Told me that Jacob told you what happened.." as she paced and bit her thumb nervously. He watched her pacing, the boxing gloves he'd shed hanging around his neck. He leaned against the wall and said quietly, "Figured you'd stay away. I'm surprised you're here." while watching her intently, hungry look in his dark brown eyes.

She'd definitely gotten sexier.

Ariana stopped pacing and looked at him, swore a little then started to pace again as she rehearsed what she'd come all the way to a gym in La Push, at ten at night, in her pajamas, to say to him. She had to get it out now, if she didn't, she'd go nuts. So she'd just say it and go home. The rest, if anything at all, would be up to him.

She just wanted to finally get why she left and why she'd begged him to break imprint with her back then off her chest for once and for all.

"Well?" Paul asked in a bitter tone as he looked at her and licked his lips. _'Focus, Lahote, god damn it, this is the girl who nearly fuckin destroyed you just by running from what you told her, what you felt and what you still feel. Stop thinking about how you wanna pin her to the wall, pick her up, wrap her legs around your waist and kiss her until her lips hurt. Stop thinking about how one night will erase this other bastard's mark on her. How you wanna make her see that she is **yours**. She **belongs to you** and she **always will**. Thinking all this shit is not going to help matters any and it's only gonna end with you taking a damn cold shower before this is all over.'_

"Look, this isn't easy for me, damn it." Ariana snapped as she stopped in front of him, looked up at him and said quietly, " I love you.. And I ran like hell because that scared the shit out of me back then.. Especially when you told me that you imprinted on me, just seconds after you finally said you loved me back for once.. I was afraid that you were only even with me because of the imprint bond.. I was afraid that even though you said you loved me then, that it was the bond talking, that one day I wouldn't be good enough for you.. I wanted you to have the freedom to find somebody better.. Somebody who deserved you. Because I figured I wasn't good enough. Every day since I've left though, there has not been a single one that's passed that I haven't hurt over what I did. There hasn't been a single day I haven't missed you. That I haven't wondered if I made the biggest mistake of my life.. I know it's probably too late now, I know you probably hate me now for all the pain I put you through.. But I said it. There. I'm done." before turning, bolting out of the gym and out to her car.

She was empty now, she'd said it all back there. Now she just had to hope to God that something came of it, or that she could get past losing the only guy she ever really and truly loved.

Paul stood in the gym, hand in his hair, watching the door as it swung gently. She'd come in here, she'd basically just unloaded every single reason she had for running.. Then she'd ran out before he even got to say what he'd been intent on saying before Jacob told him about her situation and scared him into backing off until he figured things out on his own.

He ran out of the gym and grumbled, punched a post nearby when he realized that she'd taken off and left after she said what she came to say. "What the fucking hell happened to actually letting me say something?" he wondered aloud as he paced, his mind racing a mile a minute. This wasn't over. This was far from over.

He just needed time. When he'd had time to think, to figure out just what he wanted.. Then he'd go to her. But knowing why she'd done what she had back then shocked him.. How in the hell had he not known that his girl thought she wasn't good enough? Had he not done everything he possibly could to show her just how much he loved her back then?

Even before the damn imprint happened and tore them apart?


	7. Confronted II

He'd probably spent the last two weeks since the night she came into the gym in La Push while he was working out dodging her, just trying to think, trying to figure things out for himself. He wasn't sure about the situation he was possibly throwing himself into, and understandably, she'd ran like hell one time already.. What if he put it all out there, again, and she got freaked out again and left?

He paced the beach, the bonfire was blazing about twenty feet up from him, the other shifters and their imprints sat around the bonfire talking and laughing and happy. The one thing he wanted to be right now and thanks to his stubborn pride and damn fear, he wasn't. Jacob walked over and asked, "You okay?"

"I'm fine, damn it."

"Whoa, chill.. Just asking.. Maybe if you went over there, if you went to her, Lahote.." Jacob said as Paul glared at him and then said quietly, "It's not that fucking simple, Black. Suppose I do go over there.. What the fuck even do I say? Besides, she left me back then. It wasn't the other way around. Do not get that twisted. I never would've done what this other bastard, this Patrick guy did to her."

"Which part?" Jacob asked, curiousity gleaming in his eyes as Paul grumbled and said calmly, " Can't say I wouldn't have knocked her up.. But I wouldn't have ran like some little bitch or treated her like shit like you said she admitted to you guys that Patrick did earlier. Just thinking about what she went off, got herself mixed up in pisses me off. And what if she's not done with the guy, even?" while pacing and stopping once to punch a tree's trunk. Jacob backed away, Paul smirked as he said quietly, "Like you're not enjoying the hell out of this."

"I'm not, actually.. She's kinda like a sister to me. And you're a friend, even though sometimes I wanna strangle you." Jacob admitted as Paul looked at him then flopped down onto a fallen log to sit, contemplate just what he was going to do with his current situation. Did he risk it all and go to Ariana? Or did he just keep waiting on her to come to him?

Something had to give soon, because just knowing she was back, knowing she really felt all that back then and it'd scared her that badly, well.. it was driving him nuts.

"Just go talk to her, damn it." Jacob insisted as Paul looked at him and said quietly, "Not sure what the fucking hell I should say, actually." while shrugging. He stood and stretched, Jacob gave him a strange look and then nodded towards a figure walking down the beach as he said with a smirk, "Don't kill me. It had to be done."

"The fuck, Jacob?"

Jacob walked away as Paul's nose filled with the sweet scent of his imprint. He leaned against the tree nearest him, arms crossed, watching her get closer to where he stood. Was she coming to him first, or was she just here on accident? He had to wonder because they'd both always been stubborn. She came into full view and he started to walk towards her slowly, it felt like he was in a literal trance. She'd always had that sort of strange effect on him, even before the imprint was made to begin with.

* * *

Ariana knew that one of them had to do something.. And when she heard (through her nosy as all fuck twin and Jacob, of course,) how miserable Paul was willing to let himself (and her, apparently, because his not even having tried approaching her since what she'd taken a huge risk and told him almost two weeks ago when she saw him at the gym and confronted him) feel she realized that if one of them were going to cave in at last, it had to be her this time around, obviously.

He'd caved last time and taken a risk, it was her turn now. The closer she got to where he stood on First Beach, shirtless, hair damp, arms crossed, looking every bit as ruggedly sexy as she could easily picture him in her sleep, in her daydreams.. The more her heart pounded against her ribcage. She stopped about halfway there and thought over what she was going to say or do when she stood in front of him.. She also started to fear what he might say or do.. What if that night, his not trying to even come near the house in his wolf form for almost two weeks now, was his way of telling her he was officially done?

Before she even really had a chance to wonder about that, and she'd turned to walk back the way she came, starting to chicken out already, she heard him say her name and he turned her around and asked with that same smirk he was known for (and she fantasized about often) "Where the hell do you think you're about to go, huh?"

"I was..."

Paul studied her, amused look on his face as he asked, "You were? What? You panicked? About to leave?" his tone coming out slightly bitter. She bit her lower lip, sighed as she said quietly, "I'm never gonna get you past that, am I?"

"It'll take a while, maybe I'll get past it. Depends on if you're considering doing it again.." Paul ventured as he leaned in, his body lightly pressing against hers, his mouth just mere inches from hers. It was enough to drive him (and her, of course) insane. She looked up at him and said quietly, "I told you why I did that, okay? You.. I still think you deserve better."

"And ya know what I think about that? I want you.. Fuck what I deserve, damn it.. I want you." he muttered, he leaned in closer. The heat from his skin was almost enough to send shockwaves over her body and she gasped a little, muttered quietly, "I forgot how hot you guys stay." which made him shrug and point out, "Kinda happens, yes."

She sighed. He wasn't going to make this easy on her, apparently. He was still every bit the same infuriatingly stubborn and sexy as hell guy she'd lost her heart to and ran from stupidly back then. She looked up at him and said quietly, "I came to you tonight because one of us has to give in."

"Mhmm.." Paul said as he looked at her, tapped his foot against the sand and waited. She was going somewhere with this and he was going to let her make the moves this time. If she wanted him back, she'd have to let him know one way or the other. It was driving him insane, but he knew that if he didn't do things this way, she'd always wonder if maybe they hadn't caved in too damn easily, found their way back together too damn easily. For whatever reason, his imprint had very little faith in there possibly being actual love involved in the whole imprint bond.

"And I'm giving in, okay? If you still... If this situation isn't..." Ariana said as she bit her lower lip, started to pace. He walked up behind her, his hands rested at her hips and he stilled her pacing as he leaned down and nipped at her ear and then whispered, "I've been thinking about that, actually.. And I decided that it's not too much to handle.. It feels strange to say that out loud. I wanna try.. I can't do this whole living without you thing and look what happened when I tried breaking the damn imprint when you begged me to." as he turned her around, looked down at her, his eyes shining like melted pools of milk chocolate as he licked his lips and said quietly, "And if I didn't still want you.. If I didn't still love you, Ari.. I'd have been able to break the fucking imprint back then.. But I didn't because frankly? I didn't want to. I knew you belonged with me. You're mine."

She gulped and looked up at him, noticed that he seemed to be migrating her body closer to his, and she said quietly, "We cannot rush into this.. This is complicated.. I mean.."

"I heard.. Bastard will not get within a foot of you, Ari, if he wants to keep breathing. Nothing's gonna fucking happen." Paul said as a jealous edge crept into his voice and he added carefully, "Unless you're not done with him?"

"Oh trust me.. I'm done.. My dad's taking care of completely writing him out of my life and my kids life.. Not that he actually cared, of course, the asshole was more than willing to sign his rights as a parent over." Ariana admitted, hurt. Paul's glare softened and he tilted her chin up and smirked a little as he said quietly, "Good."

"I'm just scared. Everything could go totally wrong for us.. So I don't wanna rush into anything. Can you deal with that?" Ariana asked as he shrugged and said "Waited this damn long on you to finally come to your senses.. I can wait a little longer. Won't be fucking easy but I will try. I know that asshole put you through a lot."

She nodded quietly and he slid his arm around her shoulder, cast a look down the beach at his packmates and the bonfire then said casually, "It's too crowded.. Let's go for a walk." as she let him lead her back towards the woods, away from the others. He wasn't a big crowd person when he was in a mood, he never had been.. And right now, they both knew that more than anything, they both needed to talk.


	8. Confronted III

"Did you finally talk to him?" Bella asked almost the second she stepped in the door of their father's house. "Don't even say hi then." Ariana said as Bella asked in concern, "Well? Do I need to go punch him again or..."

"We talked, Bella.. For the moment, we're taking things slowly. I did just get out of hell on earth. And he needs time to trust me again. Everybody's not just going to run down the aisle like you and Cullen did. How is the creepy bastard anyway?" Ariana asked as she reached into their father's fridge and pulled out a jar of pickles, then went to the cupboard and found the jar of hazelnut spread. Bella grimaced and asked, "Pickles and hazelnut spread?"

"It's called being pregnant, woman." Ariana said calmly as Bella looked at her twin a few moments and then said "So.. How'd it go?" as she looked at her sister a few moments. Ariana bit her lower lip and said "It went." while biting into a pickle coated in hazelnut spread. Bella stared at her and asked, "Seriously? You're not going to say anything other than that?"

Ariana smirked and shrugging again, she bit into her pickle and asked through a mouth full, "Don't you have a husband to drive batshit crazy?" which made Bella laugh a little and then say "He's actually working on something. Sent me out of the house a few hours."

"I see.. Sure he's not working on a dungeon or something?" Ariana asked as Bella sighed and then said "He's not a bad guy."

"Sure.. And neither was John Wayne Gacy, Jeffery Dahmer, Ted Bundy or Charles Manson." Ariana said as Bella glared and Ariana shrugged and pointed out, "He used to drain people's blood. For the hell of it."

"He was confused, Ariana." Bella stated through gritted teeth as Ariana said casually, "No, Bella, you're the confused one.. He, however, is a fucking murderer. What if he gets the craving for a little human blood?"

"Then he'll handle it by hunting animals. Or getting donated blood when he can." Bella said as Ariana rolled her eyes and waved her hand at her sister. Bella was rock headed, it would do absolutely no good to talk to her about her shitty life choices and how they might blow up in her face one day. And she wasn't in the mood presently to argue.

"Anyway, Bella.. My point is this.. You mind your own business with your little family.. I'll handle my business between Paul and I.. If you're asking as a caring and concerned sister then yes.. We talked.. But I'm not going to tell you what about because I also know you and your little bestie Jacob will burn up the phones to talk about it.. And I can handle fixing my mistakes on my own. I made this mistake with Paul, I'm gonna be the one to fix it." Ariana said as she dipped a pickle into her hazelnut spread and took a big and forceful bite.

"You don't have to tell me what was said. I can tell from your moody bitchiness, Ariana, that you're still stubbornly resisting the poor guy." Bella stated as Ariana nearly choked on pickle and with a raised brow and jealous tone of voice said "Poor guy? You hate the guy, Bella.. You've always hated the guy.. In fact, if memory serves. .You poisoned our father against him for a while there just so he couldn't be around to 'accidentally' let it slip just how dangerous Edward Cullen was."

"I'm happily married to Edward now, so... It's not like we can't try and get along as sisters again."

"Oh but see, sister? That's where you're wrong.. You did way too much and you s till do and get away with it. It sickens me, really. I can't be bothered to get along and play nice.. Not when people like Edward exist and make guys like Paul have to take unnecessary risks."

The door to the house opened and Paul calling her name down the hallway had her smirking and putting the hazelnut spread and pickle jar away as she said stiffly, "I think you know where the door is, Bella.. Because frankly? I'd really rather be with my man right now. It's been way too damn long and I've really missed him. I blame you for that also.. The way everyone just bowed to you had me so fucked in the head, Bella..."

Bella stormed out and Paul snickered, shook his head and pulled Ariana against him as he muttered "Leave you alone for ten seconds, Ari and you're pissing off an entire other race of beings."

"Yeah, well, what I said to her needed to be said.. How much did you..." Ariana asked as Paul smirked and leaning down, picked her up and held her against the wall, kissing her as he said quietly, "Heard enough to know that I definitely missed that hot as fuck temper of yours. And that you missed me too." and looked at her as the kiss broke.

He stood her on her own feet and then asked casually.. "So this doctors thing... You sure you want me going?" as Ariana nodded and said quietly, "You wanted to go.. Not changing your mind, right?"

His hand rested on her stomach and he shook his head smirking as he said quietly, "If I were do you really think I'd be here right now? It's Saturday.. During football season.. And I have the NFL Network.." as she rolled her eyes, pretended annoyance. They walked out the door and Paul said quietly, "I wanted to come with you.."

"I'm glad you did."

"It still feels weird but.. I'm starting to get used to it." Paul said with a shrug as he helped her into the passenger seat of his truck and laughed as he remarked, "So.. What started that argument?"

"Moodiness.. Bella lurking.. Her obsessive Vader like breathing.. Just things I've always wanted to say to her but never actually had the courage.. Take your pick." as Paul chuckled and nodded then said "Yeah, her whole breathing thing is super fucking annoying."

"God, isn't it?"


	9. Spark I

" I'm starving!" Ariana said as Paul nodded, looked at her and asked with a smirk, "You sure you wanna eat anything else? I mean you kinda got deathly ill on me about two hours ago when you just had to have that pizza and those hot wings.. I thought you'd never be finished throwing up." and ducked quickly out of her way. She glared and then pouted and said "Paulllll... I'm pregnant.. That means that I'm constantly hungry. And haha, smartass. Remind me you specifically told me not to eat the damn hot wings."

"I said nothing about the pizza and wings, mamacita.. However, I think it may have been that disgusting ass smelling blue cheese dip you ate with both things that did you in. But yeah, I know.. I told you so." Paul gloated as she glared at him again. Her cheeks were just flushing that soft pink and he knew that if he didn't stop now she'd have an outburst on him. He waved his hands in defense and laughed when she poked out her tongue and then said "So... How bad were you bored at the doctor?"

"It wasn't too bad, I guess.. I just kinda felt weird because I was the only dude there?" Paul said as he rubbed the back of his neck, tried to focus on the road and not the way he wanted to lean over and kiss her right now. Truthfully? He'd never admit it but he'd liked it, being there with her. The way she'd held onto his hand when the doctor was showing her the image of the baby on the screen.. The way she looked up at him and bit her lower lip. He grumbled to himself.. He was becoming a softy, wasn't sure how he felt about that but everything else, yeah.. He loved it, feeling important, feeling like the only guy in Ariana's universe again at long last.

If only she hadn't ran back then, scared to death about his having imprinted on her.. But now that he was looking at things calmly, he saw why she'd do it. They fought a lot. They both had notorious tempers and back then, they'd been fighting twice as bad because her sister inadvertently dragged her straight into the middle of a shitstorm of epic proportions unknowingly. And Paul hated that. He hated watching Bella put the girl he loved, (his imprint, that part came much later, though he'd die before admitting it because it was just so mushy) in any kind of pain or danger. He hated not being able to put his foot down and do what he personally had wanted to back then which would've basically been to say 'Fuck Bella's problems.. Let her figure that shit out on her own.' but now at least, he was getting a chance to try things again.

And he was determined not to fuck things up. He'd had a while to practice, to learn to control his temper and his willpower. He'd gotten pretty damn good at it too. He'd sworn to himself he'd do it though, and his intent had honestly been to find her and win her back after he'd done that very thing.. True to Ariana's personality though, she came back first.

She was always bold like that. If she wanted something, nothing got in her way. When she'd decided **she** was ready to accept things as they were, she'd come to him. Not the other way around or she never would've come back to him. If he'd went after her back then, he would've only pushed her a lot farther away. He realized that now after having spent the better part of the last few years without her in his life, with that fact driving him absolutely insane.

"Yeah, I'd imagine that was pretty hard." Ariana admitted as she intertwined her fingers with his and squeezed his hand as she said in a quieter voice, "Thanks again.. There was no way in hell I was taking Bella with me." which made Paul snort in laughter as he looked at her and said with a smirk and a teasing wink, "Anything for you." going quiet after, leaving it at that. He didn't have to say anything else, really, she knew what he meant. And he was sticking by his promise to take things slowly.

She leaned over at the red light and caught him by surprise when she used the collar of his shirt to pull him into a passionate and deep kiss. He growled a little and started to kiss her back, his hand rested on the back of her neck, fingers tangling in her long and thick hair as he rested his forehead against hers when the kiss finally broke. "What was that for, huh? And can I get used to that?"

Ariana, of course, only shrugged then finally said "You can get used to that by the way." as she held his gaze intently, bit her lower lip and tried like hell to cool herself down. She'd told herself slow was the key.. But Paul was harder to resist now.. In many ways he was the same cocky bastard that'd stolen her heart back then, but now he was calmer.. He didn't flip his shit about things as often and back then that had been the one thing about him that scared her most.

"Good.. Because I was kinda going to anyway." Paul said as he licked his lips and then coughed a little.. Was she getting herself used to everything? Did that kiss mean she was almost ready to speed up a little? He had to hope so.. But if she wasn't, he'd wait willingly. He'd waited this long, after all.

"Figured you'd say that." Ariana joked as she leaned against him and looked up. He smirked to himself and continued to drive them both back to his place.. They were going to just lay around in his room and watch movies or something all day. And he couldn't think of anywhere he'd rather be.


	10. Trouble II

She walked up behind him in the kitchen at his house, covered his eyes. Paul smirked as he turned around and shook his head, laughing. "I wonder who that could possibly be, hmm.." he said as Ariana frowned and pretended to be upset with him for a moment. They'd just started to kiss when a throat cleared from the doorway and Jacob spoke up to say with an amused chuckle, "Don't mind me.. But did you happen to remember where you're supposed to be right now?" as he shuffled his feet and leaned in the doorway.

"Go away, Jacob you cock block." Paul grumbled as Ariana nodded in agreement and then asked curiously, "If the danger is gone, why do you guys still have to patrol anyway? I mean all that's left are the Cullens and they hunt animals. I kinda wish they weren't left but.." her voice trailing off as Jacob glared and then said stiffly, "She's your sister, Ari."

"Doesn't mean I have to like that fact, does it?" Ariana asked with a shrug as she sighed and then looked up at Paul, pouting. Paul looked at Jacob and said with a shrug, "I take my orders from Sam, Black.. Sam didn't say I had patrol duty. Unless there is something going on that you other idiots haven't told him?" while looking at Jacob in curiousity, Jacob biting his lower lip and then saying quietly, "We need to talk.. Outside."

"Fine.. I'll be right back, babe.. Because this cock blocking fuckwit isn't gonna leave until I at least hear him out, I know that by now." Paul said as Jacob glared and Ariana pouted sourly at Jacob then called out "If it's got anything to do with Bella and some crisis she's gotten herself in? Tell her she made her bed now she's gonna have to lay in it." as the door shut behind the two males.

Jacob paced the porch of the Lahote house and Paul stared at Jacob, brow raised as he asked, "Something wrong, Black?"

"There are more of them.. I can't be sure but I think I smelled vampire not too far from the treaty line. If they're back then chances are they are back for Renesmee again. Or they want Bella and Edward to join the Volturi."

"And this has nothing to do with me, Black.. Look, you've got your pack, Sam has us.. If we have to? We'll help.. But nothing's happened yet and Sam hasn't put us on high alert or something so.. Basically, Black? She's your imprint.. Bella's your friend.. You deal with it.. Because if it were up to me? I'd kill 'em all just to keep Ariana safe." Paul said as he leaned against the wall and crossed his arms, stared Jacob down.

"Sam's not going to offer to help.. But this thing looks like it could get big."

"As long as Ariana's not dragged into it? I could care less." Paul said as Jacob shook his head and said "But it's what we're supposed to do.. We're supposed to protect innocent people from the bad ones." as Paul nodded and said solemnly, "I intend to.. Just not going to help the Cullens unless I absolutely have to do it. Now, if you don't mind, Black.. Kinda have a hot little mamacita waiting in my kitchen." as he walked back into his house, leaving Jacob glaring at the door, angrier than he had been in a while. True, that last battle between the Volturi and the shifters had pretty much split the pack into two seperate ones.. But Jacob saw no reason why the two couldn't work together and finally get rid of the threat that were rogue vampire covens. Apparently Paul saw this otherwise and he was dead set on not helping unless Ariana was in danger.

Not that Jacob could blame the guy, Bella hadn't ever really given Paul a reason to want to help her with anything, she'd done everything from mess Ariana up self esteem wise when they were kids to being the sole reason Charlie banned Ariana from seeing Paul for almost 4 months in high school just because she didn't like him and she'd made up a bunch of totally stupid lies so that Charlie would make Ariana break things off with Paul. But they were sisters and sadly, at some point, this new threat would somehow affect Ariana.

Paul slid his arms around Ariana's waist and said quietly, "I told him no.. If you're wondering.. I'm not intervening until Sam gives the order. Sam's the alpha I follow. I refuse to follow Jacob for the simple fact that it means that at some point in the immediate future, I'd have to work with the Cullens again. And I don't even remotely agree with what they are, who cares if they feed on animals. The potential for snapping and reverting to feeding on humans is still there. And your sister is an idiot for marrying into them and being turned."

"I know. And I agree. And I don't want you helping them, because frankly? If these other vampires are after my sister? She probably did something to piss them off.. Or they're in agreement with us, they don't like that Edward turned her. I mean it was to save her life, I get that.. But she wanted it all along, so..." Ariana said as she snuggled against Paul and looked up then said quietly, "Jacob was pissed, I bet."

"He was, yeah. But I don't care. My main priority right now is you being safe.. The kid being safe.. I can't.. I don't want anything happening to either of you." Paul said as he hoped subconsciously that he could actually keep his imprint and the baby she carried currently safe if the situation called for it, preferrably without having to help the Cullens in any way, shape or form.


	11. Protective I

"Nope, ain't gonna happen, Sam. No way in hell I'm putting Ariana through the shit that working with those damn leeches will entail. It's too risky." Paul said firmly as Sam sighed and said "We really don't have a choice. It's either all of us do something about these new vampires or they take over. And I know, Paul, you don't want them taking over.. Because they will go after her."

"And I can take 'em, damn it. We don't need the Cullens or Black's little band of idiots to do it." Paul stated firmly, eye to eye with Sam, their pack's alpha. If only he'd been born earlier.. He'd be in Sam's spot and the Cullens, the Volturi and all the damn leeches on Earth would be dead. Sam saw the smirk and said quietly, "Sometimes, Paul, we have to coexist. The Cullens are harmless. And we could use their help fighting off these new vampires."

"Or we could just ya know, kill 'em all." Paul muttered quietly as Sam sighed and said "And as much as Ariana would never say it, that would actually hurt her. Bella is still her sister, one of them or not. You have to think about the bigger picture here, Paul."

"I am, Sam.. And all I'm seeing is bad. I'm not gonna let Ariana or the baby get hurt, damn it. And it's because of those damn Cullens these new fuckers keep showing up and sniffing around. Doesn't help that Bella the batshit crazy one joined them. And now Black's imprinted on her hybrid spawn."

"Watch what the fuck you're saying about my imprint, Paul.. Yours is a cold careless..."

Paul raised his fist and growled, came about an inch shy of Jacob's nose. Deep down, Paul wished he'd broken it for the jerk, Jacob would totally deserve that shit he honestly felt. It was because of his vampire bestie, as far as Paul cared to know, that Ariana could be in danger again. That her baby could be in danger too. Ariana spoke up from behind them and said quietly, "Paul, baby.. I love you when you get like this over me.. But Sam has a point. They are the lesser of the two evils in this case.. And if anything happened to my sister, despite what Jacob so delicately put that he thinks about me, I would be sad about it.. That being said, Sam.. After this, no more. I mean it.. I do not like the idea of my sister anywhere near Paul. She brings out his worst."

Sam nodded and then said quietly, "As far as what you said, Jacob.. It's not heartless to see when someone has a problem and be angry at them for it. It's called concern. And Ariana was concerned for Bella at the time."

"I was, yes.. Now, I personally could give a flying fuck in space less. If she gets my man hurt though, I swear to God, Jacob.. I'll kill them all and take Renesmee, raise her so far away nobody can find her but my father. So you better warn her of the consequences. Because frankly? I think houseplants would make a better parent for my niece" she added heavy emphasis on the phrase my niece and then paused a few moments before continuing, "Than that damn sister of mine and her batshit crazy family."

"You don't really even know them."

"I don't care to, either."

Paul snickered a little and hugged Ariana's smaller body against his own as he whispered in her ear, "That was hot, babe."

"It was all true.. You listen to me, Lahote.. If you get even one scratch on you.. Even a tiny one.. I will kick your ass.. Because you and I just got shit back on track.. And I really do not want to lose you." as Paul picked her up and carried her away from the meeting that was being held on First Beach, back to his house. He stood her on her feet on the porch and said quietly, "I'm gonna be fine. I'm worried about you and the little person though.. All this stress, babe.."

"I'm a big girl. Like usual, I'll just put on my big girl panties and deal.. It'll be easier knowing that you swear to me you will not get hurt.. Or do something really stupid like die."

"I can't promise but I won't intentionally get hurt."

"Damn it, Paul."

"Damn it, woman.. I said I'd try.. My temper, babe.. Shit happens."

"Ughh, I can't with you right now." Ariana grumbled as he pulled her into one of those passionate kisses she was loving so much lately and muttered against her lips "Would it ease your mind if I tell ya I've got the three of us an exit strategy.. Jared helped me.. You might have to leave town with me..."

She looked at him and bit her lower lip then said quietly, "If we have to, yes.. Only on one condition though.. We tell my father about it.. And we try and make him come with us. I just.. I don't want any one who doesnt deserve it getting hurt. Bella stopped being one of my worries a long time ago when she turned into what she did. I hate saying that.."

"Fair enough." Paul said as he hugged her against him and carried her inside his house.


End file.
